Author: Opalim Lifted

A US couple detained in Uganda since December on suspicion of torturing a 10-year-old boy in their care was granted bail on Wednesday by a Kampala court. Nicholas Spencer, 32, and his wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, 32, both from South Carolina, were initially charged with aggravated torture and aggravated child trafficking to a boy they fostered and were living within Kampala. According to their lawyer, David Mpanga, they have also been charged with overstaying a visa and working without a permit since their arrest. The offense of aggravated torture of a child in Uganda carries a maximum sentence of…

On Wednesday, Lebanese security forces fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, mostly retired security personnel, who had gathered near government buildings in Beirut in protest of the country’s deteriorating economic conditions. Crowds gathered in downtown Beirut’s streets between parliament and the government serail, carrying Lebanon’s tricolor or flags with security forces’ logos. They were outraged by the depreciation of state pensions paid in local currency. Since 2019, the pound has lost more than 98% of its value against the US dollar. “Our kids are hungry. We’re hungry,” said Mohamad el-Khateeb, a 59-year-old who had served in the army for…

The family of an ex-permanent secretary in Ogun State, Adefemi Egbeoluwa, and his wife, Oluwafunmilayo, has been in mourning since their bodies were discovered at their home near Allen Avenue in Lagos State’s Ikeja neighborhood. On the day of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections, the couple was at home with their domestic worker when some unidentified individuals broke into their home and killed them. Following the crime, the suspects allegedly attacked the domestic worker, beat her until she passed out, and fled. Following the attack, it was discovered that neighbors who got wind of the information rushed…

On Tuesday, candidates who lost Saturday’s governorship election and their supporters protested the results and vowed to challenge them in court. Peoples Democratic Party supporters protested in Ogun and Nasarawa states, while the All Progressives Congress in Kano State gave the Independent National Electoral Commission seven days to declare the state’s governorship election inconclusive. The APC has won 15 states, the PDP has won eight, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party has won Kano State, according to the results of the governorship elections declared by INEC thus far. A PDP protest in Ogun State turned violent when a Nigeria Security…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ordered the resumption of collation of governorship election results in Abia and Enugu states, which had previously been suspended. Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, stated in a statement that the commission has completed its review of the exercise in the two states. The commission halted the collation of results in Abia state due to what it described as a “invasion” of its collation center in the state’s Obingwa local government area. The statement from the commission reads: “It will be recalled that the Commission met on Monday 20th…

Hoodlums suspected of being political thugs set fire to a state High Court in Owutu-Edda, Ebonyi’s Afikpo South Local Government Area. Mrs. Oluchi Uduma, the court’s Registrar, confirmed the incident to reporters in Owutu-Edda on Tuesday. Hoodlums bomb INEC office, police station, kill one in Anambra She claimed that the thugs stormed the court on Tuesday and set fire to it. Uduma explained that the courthouse, documents, and other valuables had all been destroyed by fire. The Chairman of Afikpo South Local Government Area, Mr. Chima Nkama also confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was reported to the police.

Stakeholders have expressed a willingness to provide Solar Mini-Grid Electricity to some communities in the Niger Delta that lack electricity to combat pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft. Mr. Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director, Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), an NGO, stated this in a telephone interview with journalists on Tuesday in Abuja. He stated that NXT GRID Netherlands and its Nigeria subsidiary were hired by YEAC-Nigeria and YEAC-UK Ltd to develop the project. According to him, the project will begin in the Umuolu community of the state’s Ndokwa East Local Government Area and will be expanded to other communities.…

According to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Africa needs appropriate resources to combat poverty and protect vulnerable groups while reaching long-term development goals. Antonio Pedro, the ECA’s Acting Secretary-General, stated this during his closing remarks at the 55th Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Pedro stated that these were among the concerns prominently discussed at the meeting, which he asked organizations to follow up on. “ We saw from presented evidence that the effects of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, the looming debt crisis, and climate change impacts characterize the deep…

The Independent National Electoral Commission has refuted a report accusing its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of attempting to skew the results of the governorship election in Abia State. According to Strenuous Blog, the Returning Officer for Abia, Nnenna Oti, claimed that she was forced to do the wrong thing. “The INEC Presiding Officer Abia State, Nnenna Oti, had this to say…”, according to the portal. Professor Nnenna Oti from Afikpo here. I am the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and the people’s mandate will be respected. I’ve spent my entire adult life pursuing the ideals of…

Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has insisted that the 2023 general elections were the best set of elections ever held in Nigeria. The Speaker, while admitting that the polls were not perfect, noted that they were a step forward in the country’s efforts to ensure credible polls. This comes as the Speaker promised that the Electoral Offences Commission Bill would be passed into law before the House’s term expired in June. Gbajabiamila made these remarks on Tuesday in Abuja, while welcoming his colleagues back from the recently concluded Governorship and State Assembly elections. “Any objective assessment of…